Here is a book that was first published the same year I was, a story I first encountered when I was in about the fifth grade in the early 1960s. The book-based movie starring Spencer Tracy was on TV and I watched it at home with my dad. This was during the time that most Kalamazoo televisions were still black and white and received three channels only, four if the weather happened to be good that day.

Having a lingering impression of the powerful drama of the plot, I eventually read the book sometime during the summer between high school and college. Since I was already working here at KPL, finding a copy was not a problem! This novel about the Cuban fisherman and his long struggle with the marlin he caught is truly a masterpiece. I’m not generally a voracious reader of fiction, but this is one novel in which I took great delight.